U.S. Open Cup set during World Cup

The U.S. Open Cup has scheduled Major League Soccer teams to play during the league's planned two-week break for the World Cup.
Sounders coach Sigi Schmid is not pleased with the U.S. Open Cup schedule.

MLS had planned for teams to be off from June 12-24, but they will now enter in the fourth round of the cup, which is organized by U.S. Soccer.

The fourth round will be the week of June 10, and teams could play two rounds during the World Cup break. It will be the first year that MLS teams will play cup games on a weekend.

Seattle Sounders coach Sigi Schmid blasted the schedule for planning matches during the World Cup.

"Don't get me started on that," Schmid said on Friday, according to MLSsoccer.com. "The Open Cup comes right at the time when we're supposed to have off time from MLS. It's a situation for us where hopefully the games get scheduled around June 10 or 11 so we can actually give our players a little bit of time off.

"They got all excited because they saw an open weekend so we can schedule games. Well, if they schedule games, there's no point of us having off time, we may as well play a MLS game."

Schmid said he was upset not only because teams could be without some top players, but also because it will deny team staffers the opportunity to go to Brazil.

"I thought the break was good because it would give us time to give our players some time off, but also our staff some time off," he said. "I don't think our staff has ever had any time off in the middle of it. Not that I'm planning to go to Brazil -- because I'm not -- but it would also give people the opportunity to go to the World Cup for four or five days or six days, whether you're a trainer or a team administrator or something like that.

"Instead, the New York office will be there and the U.S. Soccer office will be there, and the rest of us will toil away here and watch it on TV."